Movable sheet production-control device with sheet guiding means



June 10, 1952 c. r. BREITENSTEIN 2,600,153

MOVABLE SHEET, PRODUCTION-CONTROL DEVICE WITH SHEET GUIDING MEANS Filed April 18, 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN V EN TOR.

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June 1952 c. 'r. BREITENSTEIN MOVABLE SHEET, PRODUCTION-CONTROL DEVICE WITH SHEET GUIDING MEANS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed April 18, 1947 INVENTOR. Charles T B12 12 eizsiebz Uzi/figs Patented June 10, 1952 MOVABLE SHEET PRODUCTION -CONTROL DEVICE WITH SHEET GUIDING MEANS Charles T. Brcitenstein, Chicago, Ill., assignor of one-half to Raymond T. Moloney, Chicago, Ill.

Application April 18, 1947, Serial No. 742,481

3 Claims.

This invention relates to a production control device and the like, as for example as may be employed in regulating and controlling the supply parts to a manufacturing assembly line, or the supply of raw materials into a foundry or other raw material converting plant.

An important object of the present invention is the provision of a production control device which facilitates currently classifying and recording parts as received in stock and indicating the current supply of parts in each class.

In the production of a complicated assembly, such as a radio-phonograph combination which may include 1500 or more separate parts, it is essential that every part be kept flowing in a steady stream to the assembly line. The stoppa e of flow of a single one of these parts can halt the entire assembly line, causing serious losses in both wages and profits. Consequently, for practical mass production, it is essential that the supply of parts he kept ahead of assembly line requirements and elaborate systems have been worked out for this purpose.

One conventional production control system uses a file of cards, one card for each part. Each card is kept up to date to show the current supply of any part at any given time. The cards will all be checked through at regular intervals, for instance once a day, to determine what parts, if any, are not available in a safe surplus. This is an immense job, time-consuming, as well as fraught with inherent error due to the large number of cards which must be individually checked to find the short items. The job is so big that a shortage may come close to shutting down an assembly line before it can be detected and corrected.

Another conventional system uses a series of bar graphs, one bar for each component of the assembly. The bar graphs are applied to large wall charts which are more speedy to use than the above-mentioned card system but are bulky and take up a considerable amount of wall space where a large number of items go into the assembly. It is usually impractical to place all the bar graphs on a single chart. For instance, where the assembly includes several hundred-or several thousand parts a number of charts must be used, thereby possessing the disadvantage of individually reading a number of separate charts to determine whether any item is in short supply.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a machine for production control andthc like which eliminates the above mentioned disadvantages and which may be employed to determine whether the supply of parts is sufiicient in a very short time, even for extremely complicated assemblies such as radios, automobiles and the like having thousands of individual parts.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a production control machine in which a sheet, containing bar graphs showing current supply of parts, is movable across a table, past an index showing current assemblies for ready comparison between the number of completed assemblies and the supply of any of the individual parts at any time. Where the machine is motor-driven, as preferred, an item that is in short supply can be picked out quickly simply by starting the motor and Watching the bar graphs on the sheet as the latter is driven past the index.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description taken in connection with the drawings in which:

Figure l is a perspective view of one embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a marking guide which facilitates applying the bar graphs of individual parts to the movable sheet;

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of Fig. 2 taken on the line 3-3;

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of Fig. 1 taken along the line Fig. '5 is an outside end view of Fig. 1 as seen from the left; 1

Fig. 6 is a sectional view of Fig. 5 taken on the line 6-43;

Fig. 7 is a sectional view of Fig. 5 taken along the line 'll;

Fig. 8' is a sectional view of Fig. 5 taken along the line 88; and

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary view of an end portion of one of the rollers shown in Fig. 8, but showing the yieldably movable flange displaced by one end of the roll of sheet material. This view illustrates the mechanism which maintains the sheet material in positive alignment on both rolls, this mechanism also automatically compensating for variations in widths of different rolls as will be seen.

The embodiment of the present invention illustrated in the drawings has a housing comprising an L-cross-section member 20 forming the bottom and rear walls 2| and 22, and secured, as by screws 23, to the side walls 24 and 25. A front wall 26 and an upper rear wall 21 are hinged at 28 and 29, respectively, onto the L-cross-section member 20 to provide access to the internal mechanism. At each end of these hinged walls 26 and 27 is a rotatable knob 31, rotatably journaled in the wall, and terminating in a transverse latch extension 32 which is engageable with a corresponding opening 33 in one of the side walls to maintain the hinged walls 26 and 2'! latched in normally closed positions. Unlatching is accomplished by rotating the knobs 3! approximately 90 to move the extensions 32 out of engagement with their corresponding Index means, including the channel member 34, supported on the side walls by the downwardly turned bracket portions 35 and screws 36 (Fig. 4), is provided to carry an index which may show the status of the finished product, for example completed assemblies. In other words, the channel member 34 is provided to carry reference data for comparison with data shown on the movable chart. The upper, side edges 31 of the channel member 34 are preferably turned upwardly and inwardly to overlie the longitudinal edges of an index 33 which, as shown in this specific instance, may be a card or paper, preferably co-extensive with the movable sheet and having thereon a bar graph indicating both the total number of assemblies wanted (at a) and the number of assemblies already made (at b).

The sheet designated 39 is preferably supplied in a long roll and will be windably assembled into rollers, to be described, which may be driven in one direction or the other to move the sheet across the table 4! past the index means 34. The sheet 39 may in one form constitute a roll of graph paper ruled in both directions; in using such a sheet, I have found it convenient to also employ a section thereof as the index 33, this being a very satisfactory method of insuring that the corresponding lines on both the index and the movable sheet are in registration. At the beginning of production of an assembly, all the parts thereof will be given individual part numbers (H-520, II-521, etc.) and an individual bar graph will be laid out on the sheet for each part with the part number clearly marked thereon, as shown in Fig. l.

The making of the bar graphs is greatly facilitated by the use of a guide as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, which will preferably be formed of lightweight transparent material such as polymerized methyl methacrylate resin (Lucite). In the present instance the guide is designated generally by the numeral 42 and is formed rectangularly with bevelled surfaces 43, 44, 45 and 46 extending upwardly from a relatively narrow throughslot 41 for guiding the pencil to make the individual bar graphs when suitably placed over the sheet 39 upon the table 41.

One or more comparator members 48 and 43 will preferably be provided to facilitate the ready, visual comparison of the numbers of completed assemblies as shown on the index 38 with the supplies of individual parts shown on the sheet 39 as the latter is moved across the table. The comparator members 48 and 43 are mounted on bushings and 52, respectively, which in turn are slidably mounted on the rod 53 having its ends secured to the side plates 24 and 25. Each of the comparator members 48 and 49 is mounted eccentrically on its bushing so the comparators may be moved pivotally upward about the rod 53 so they will clear the table 4| when desired, to facilitate applying and changing the bar graphs on the sheet 39. Another rod 54 is likewise secured to the sides 24 and 25 and, as shown in Fig. 4, supports the comparators a suitable distance above the sheet 39 to avoid smearing or tearing of the sheet as might be the case if they were in direct contact with the sheet.

Referring now to Fig. 4 and subsequent views, the internal mechanism for drawing the sheet across the table will now be described. The particular machine here shown consists of a pair of rollers 55 and 55' with which the respective ends of the sheet 39 are windably engaged; an electric motor 56; gear means including a driving gear B'Idriven by the motor 58 and which is shiftable between positions to alternately engage the driven gear means 58 and 58' for the respective rollers; the motor switch 59; and a manually operable shifter lever 6i, movement of which is effective both to close the switch and engage the driving gear 51 with one or the other of the above mentioned driven gear means to cause the sheet to be moved in a selected direction.

The motor means 56 may comprise any electric motor means suitably geared down so the drive shaft 62 rotates normally at a speed to permit ready visual comparison of the individual bar graphs H-5'20, H-521, etc. with the index bar graph [t b. It is also contemplated that in certain cases variable speed means may be employed to facilitate the rapid movement of the sheet to one end preparatory to moving the sheet in the opposite direction at a lower speed so the operator may scan the entire list of parts in a single, uni-directional sweep of the sheet across the table 4|. A rheostat 60, or other suitable speed control device may be incorporated in the motor circuit, as shown. The motor 56 is mounted on a supporting bracket 63 which in turn is secured to the floor 2| by screws 64. The end of the motor shaft 62 is rotatably journaled within bushingBS secured to the side wall 24 and an intermediate portion of the drive shaft is keyed or splined, as shown at 66. Splined to this portion of the shaft 62 so as to be reciprocable but not rotatable with respect thereto, is a collar 67 on which is mounted the driving gear 51. The operating lever 6! which is slidable within a slot 68 formed in the table 4| is pivoted on bracket 69 (Fig. 6) which is secured to the side wall 24 by screws H and at an intermediate position on the lever, a pair of cars 12 (Fig. 8) are struck toward the collar member 61 and are spaced apart sufficiently to straddle the collar. Pins '13 extend inwardly from the cars into a groove 14 formed in the collar thus providing an operative connection so that movement of the lever is effective toshift the collar (and hence the driving gear 51) between operating positions at which the driving gear engages one or the other of the above mentioned driven gear means 58 or 58'. Leftwise movement of the lever 61 is limited by engagement of the collar 61 with the bushing 65; and rightwise movement is limited by engagement of the lever itself with the stop 15 which is mounted on the drive shaft by set screw 16.

The switch means 59 may take any of a number of forms. It may, if desired, be operative independently of the shifting lever 6l, altho ugh for convenience in operation it is preferable that the switch be linked to it as shown for actuation by the lever. The particular switch means shown here comprises a toggle switch having two closed positions C and C and an intermediate, open position 0, all as shown in Fig. 6. The switch lever 11 is pivotally engaged with the link rod 18 which in turn is pivotally engaged with the shift lever 6|. Thus when the shift lever 6| is in its extrem left position (Fig. 6) to cause roller 55' to be driven, the switch lever will be in position C. When the shift lever is in the extreme opposite position to cause roller 55 to be driven, th switch lever will be in position C. And when the shifter lever is in an intermediate position in which the driving gear 51 is free as shown in Fig. 8, the switch lever will be in position 0 and the motor will be de-energized. For best results, the switch 59 will be adjusted to start the motor before the driving gear is moved into engagement with the driven gear means to assure positive meshing of the gears.

The construction of each of the rollers 55 and 55 is identical. Hence it will sufiice to describe only one roller and parts associated therewith, the identical parts of th other roller being designated by the same reference characters except that they are primed. Roller 55 comprises a tube 19 having a plug 8| threadably engaged within it at the left end. The plug 8| has formed on it a flange 82 which is thus fixed relative to the tube. Radial and thrust bearings 83 and 84 are interposed between the plug 8i and a spindle 85, the latter having an exterior flange 95 secured to side plate 24 by screws 87. Mounted on the outside of the plug member 8| and therefore rotatable with the roller is pinion 83 which, with the idler pinion 89, constitutes the driven gear means previously generally designated 58. The idler pinion 89 is rotatable about pin 9|, also carried by plate 24, and is held in a position co-planar with and engaged with pinion 88 by the bushing 92 which provides the proper spacing from the side wall 24.

At the other end of roller 55, a hollow plug 93 i threadably engaged within the end portion of tube 19. On the outer cylindrical surface 94 of this plug, a tubular extension 95 of a flange 95 is reciprocably mounted. It is yieldably urged toward the tube by means of a coil spring 91, the latter being seated on a backing member 98 which in turn bears on the thrust bearing 99. Thrust and radial bearings HM and I92 provide a substantially frictionless connection between the plug 93 and a spindle member I03 which is secured to the side wall 25 by screws I04.

In manufacture, the fixed flanges 82 and 82 will be carefully aligned co-planarly, to provide a fixed, two-section bas for the sheet 39, which in the present case is wound onto rollers 55 and 55' as shown in Fig. 4. In the use of the device it is preferable to employ a sheet which has a somewhat greater width than the minimum distance between the flanges 82 and 95. This will permit the sheet to overhang the tube 19 at the right end as shown in Fig. 9. The yieldabl flange 96 (and 96) will then be effective to maintain the rolled sheet pressed snugly between both flanges on each roll, which will therefor maintain the whole sheet in proper alignment since the fixed flanges 8282' are co-planarly aligned as above mentioned. It will be seen also that the yieldable flange on each roller effectively compensates for variations in widths of diiferent sheets.

In summary, it will thus be apparent from the foregoing description that by constructing the device with the fixed two-section base 8282 on the zero or left hand side as shown, the effect of any misalignment between 'the index and sheet du to variation in width of sheet will'be minimized by deflecting the error into the right side of the sheet, remote from the zero point, where the percentage error will be least.

Referring to Figs. 4and 6, a pair of idler rollers I05 and I05 are alsoprovided to support and guide the sheet 39 adjacent the front and rear edges of the table 4|. These rollers turn freely as the sheet is moved across them. Each end of these idler rollers is rotatably mounted on a spindle I06 secured to one or the other of theside plates by screws I01. I have found that if the sheet is Wound too tightly on the rollers, it will tend to crawl sidewise one way or the other against one of the flanges, thereby damaging the edges of the sheet so that after a relatively short time the sheet can no longer be used. I have found that for best results, the sheet must be wound fairly loosely on the rollers, that is without any considerable amount of hold-back tension. On the other hand, the non-driven roller must not be perfectly free because this would permit it to overrun and loosen the roll whenever the driven roller is stopped. For this reason, it is desirable to provide means for restraining the non-driven roller from freely rotatable movement. Fig. 8 illustrates leaf springs l98l08', secured as by rivets Hill-I09 to the side wall 24, which bear lightly on the exterior of flanges 82-82'. These springs are not strong enough to impair the motor efliciency in any considerable amount but they do exert sufficient frictional drag to prevent the above-mentioned overrunning of the non-driven roller. It will be understood that either one of the rollers will be nondriven depending on the direction of movement on the sheet.

It is believed, in view of the foregoing description, that operation of the machine is obvious. However, in summary, it will now be briefly reviewed.

Assume that the machine is set up as shown in Fig. 1. The total number of assemblies wanted is indicated at a on the bar graph on index 38. The current total of units already assembled is indicated at b. The supply of individual parts for this assembly is kept up to date by an operator who lengthens the appropriate bar graph whenever he is advised that the supply of a certain part has been increased. To determine at any time whether a suflicient surplus exists for all parts, the comparator member 49 will be placed across the table 4| at b. The comparator 49 will then be set at a location 0 which is selected on the basis of whatever excess of parts over assemblies is required for a safe surplus. The excess of parts over assemblies for such a safe surplus will vary considerably from one assembly to another type of assembly and may even vary from time to time for a given assembly. Thus, the selection of point a will depend to a certain extent on the experience and judgement of the operator. The sheet 39 will preferably first be moved to one end or the other of its travel by moving the lever 6| to the left or right as desired. The entir list of parts can then be quickly scanned for shortages simply by moving the shifter lever EI in the opposite direction, thereby causing the sheet to be moved to bring individual bar graphs H-520, H-521, etc. successively into the view of the operat'or. bar graphs which extend to the right beyond the comparator 49, such as H-520, I-I-521 and -H-528 (Fig. 1) indicate an ample surplus. One such as H 522 which does not extend to the comparator 49 will indicate instantly to the operator that the item represented by this graph is in sort supply and something should be done about it at once.

While a particular embodiment of the present invention has been shown for illustrative purposes only, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific details disclosed since many modifications may be made. It is therefore contemplated by the appended claim to cover all such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim: C

1. A production control device or the like, com prising a housing having a viewing table thereon; a pair of rollers windably engageable respectively with opposite end portions of a sheet for moving it across said table; index means spaced from said table and extending along one edge thereof transversely of the direction of movement of said sheet; and comparator means extending across said index means and table in a direction parallel to the movement of said sheet and movable in a direction'parallel to said index means across said table for visually indicating comparisons of indicia on said index means and sheet; each said roller having'a fixed flange at one end and a reciprocal flange at the other end parallel to said fixed flange and movable toward and away from said fixed flange, the fixed flanges of said rollers being co-pl'anarly aligned to provide a guide for one edge of said sheet; and means yieldably urging the reciprocable flanges of said rollers toward said fixed flanges and against the tion of movement of said sheet; and comparator means coextensive with the index means and the table in the direction of movement of said sheet and movable in a direction parallel to the index means across said table through a range of positions for visually comparing indicia 0n the index means and the sheet; and a sheet aligning means for maintaining one edge of said sheet in alignment with a corresponding portion of said index means including a fixed sheet engaging base having spaced co-p'lanar portions to provide a guide for said one edge of said sheet, reciprocable sheet engaging means engageable with the opposite edge of said sheet, parallel to said spaced co-planar portions, and movable toward and away from said flxed sheet engaging base, and means yieldably urging said reciprocal sheet engaging means toward said fixed sheet engaging base for maintaining the first said edge of said sheet in guided relationship against said fixed sheet engaging base.

3. A production control device or the like, comprising a housing having a viewing table thereon; an elongated indicia sheet movable across said table for viewing and marking purposes; index means spaced from said table and extending along one edge thereof transversely of the direction of movement of said sheet; comparator means coextensive with the index means and the table in the direction of movement of said sheet and movable in a direction parallel to the index means across said table through a range of positions for visually comparing indicia on the index means and the sheet; and sheet aligning means for maintaining on edge of said sheet in alignment with a corresponding portion of said index means including a roller windably engageable with each end of said sheet, a fixed two-section base including a flange fixed on one end of each roller and abuttably engageable by said one edge of said sheet, the fixed flanges being co-planarly aligned to provide a guide for said one edge of said sheet, a two-section base including another flange at the opposite end of each roller, parallel to said fixed flange, and movable toward and away from the same, and resilient means pressing the movable flanges into abutment with the opposite edge of said sheet and holding the first said edge thereof againstsaid fixed flanges.

CHARLES T. BREITENSTEIN.

REFERENCES o'rrnn The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 348,366 Westervelt Aug. 31, 1886 651,815 Appleyard June 19, 1900 833,248 Schimmel Oct. 16, 1906 859,052 Dozier July 2, 1907 1,187,705 Calvert June 20, 1916 1,454,818 Jones May 8, 1923 1,628,677 Morichard May 1'7, 1927 1,741,676 Borel Dec. 31, 1929 1,984,199 OBrien Dec. 11, 1934 2,001,780 Fry May 21, 1935 2,010,908 Wood Aug. 13, 1935 2,176,828 Walker Oct. 17, 1939 2,328,055 Clough Aug. 31, 1943 2,335,347 Chadwell Sept. 25, 1947 2,431,784 White Dec. 2, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 660,401 France July 11, 1929 

